Cooler for displaying and vending beverages



Nov. 30 1926 w. E cm COOLER FOR DISPLAYING AND VENDING BEVERAGES Filed June' 15 1925 Patented Nov. 30, 1925.

UhllTED STATES WILLIAM F. cox, or Louis, Mrssonnr.

COOLER FOR DISPLAYING AND VENDIIQ G' B-EV Application filed June 15, 1925.

his invention relates to cooling devices for use in displaying. and vending beverages, such, for example, as orangeade, lemonade, grape-juice, and the like.

The general object of the invention is to provide a cooling device which willpermit containers of the beverages to be readily cooled with ice, while presenting the containers to view. The containers are preterably in the form of large glass bottles, of several gallons capacity, and these are mounted in a glass-front casing an'd surrounded therein by ice, and the appearance of these glass bottles containing popular beverages and surrounded, or partly surrounded, by ice is esthetic'ally agreeable to the eye, produces a pleasing impression of coolness on the onlooker, and-tends to stimulate a desire to partake of the beverage so displays l. in other words,the cooler a ords an eiiicient means ofadvertising the beverage contained therein. g

A further object of the invention is to provide a cooling and dispensing device for beverages which will be sanitary use, in that the danger of contamination from foreign matter falling, into thebeverage is reduced to the minimum. The sanitary characteristic of the invention is largely due to the provisionyof a combined closure for the container of the beverage and a ladle for removing a given quantity of the beverage fr 1n the container for sale, as the same may be called for. By this arrangement, the lid or closure operates to prevent perspiration or any foreign matter on the hand of the operator, from falling into the container; and, further, no part of the hand or arm of the operator has to be inserted in the container in dipping out quantities of the beverage for sale.

lVith the above general objects in view, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of a casing or ice receptacle having two containers of beverages mounted therein and surrounded, or partly surrounded, with ice;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the same; and

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view through the casing and one of the containers,

Serial No.

showing, particularly, the arrangement of the combined closure and ladle as consturct cd accord to my invention.

Referring now to the drawing, the nunieral 1 incl iv an ice box or chest whic in practice, has at "ght parallel side w and circular ends 1: Gther shapes oi ice chests CQQlCh GTi cour -so, beadopted it dcsired, T '2' front wall oi this ice chest is provided with glass panel 2 through which the interior of the ice chest can be readily seen. The top of the ice chest is closed by a lid. 5, preferably" provided with a flange 6 snug the opening in the upper end The lid 5 provided near h circular openings T (Figure 3),bl1l0l each ofwhich the upper end or mouth or a container 8 may project. Preferably, ll make the ice chest of a size to hold. two oi? th containers while leaving suiiicient space for the reception of cracked ice to surround, or substantially surround, the containers.

The containers 8, as stated above, are in the form or large glass bottles, and their size is such as to substantially fill up the space bet the side walls lot the ice chest, wl 'i e leaving spaces 9 the ends of the ice chest and central space 10' between the containers for the re'cc 'jtion of the craclre'd ice. A drain pipe 11 controlled by a valve 12 is connected to the ice chest at the bottom "for drawing 0d water caused by the melting of the ice. Each of the openings 7 is adapted to be closed by a closure 13 having a handle 14L on its upper side and provided with a circular flange 15, which rests upon the top of the lid 5 when the lower end portion 16 of the closure is inserted in the opening 7. Each of the closures 13 is substantially semi-spherical in shape, so as to extend overthe mouth 1? oi the bottle projecting up through the opening 7. The numeral 18 (Figure 3) indicates a rod, the upper end oi which is secured on the underside of the closure 13, preferably by extending upward into, and being suitably 1 9.5% toned within, the handle portion 1a oi the closure. The lower end of the rod 18 has secured thereon a cup or bowl 19, by means of which the contents of the container 8 may be removed. The rod 18 and cup or bowl 19 form, in effect, aladle which is a unitary part of the closure 13, and preferopposite end drawing, can also be seen.

ably the cup or bowl 19 is of a size to contain the quantity of the beverage that is sold for a single drink.

In operation, the proprietor grasps the handle 14: and lifts the closure 13 from the lid 5 and Withdraws the bowl 19 containing the beverage. from the mouth 17 of the container 8. He then empties the beverage into a glass to be handed the customer, and returns the ladle to the container and the closure to its position in or over the opening 7. I may state, at this point, that the closure 13'neednot fit into the opening 7, and, in fact, any desired means of effecting a closing relation between the opening 7 and the cl0sure l3 may be adopted.

By referring to Figure 1, it will be noted that the greater portion of each of the containers 8 can be seen through the glass panel 4:, as well as the ice in the chest locatedbetween the containers, and, of course, the contents of the containers, not indicated in the To heighten the artistic effect, I usually place beverages of contrasting colors in the two containers. For example, I may put orangeade in one container, and, in the other, grape-juice, or some other highly colored drink. The sides of the containers 8, lying in close proximity to the glass panel, provide spaces at this point too narrow for ice to enter, so that the View of the contents of the containers is not obstructed.

In supplying the ice to the ice-chest, the lid thereof is removed and the ice may be supplied to the chest without any great liability of particles of ice or foreign matter passing into the containers, which project above the plane of the top of the ice chest. However, in practice, in filling the chest with ice, temporary covers are placed over the mouths of the bottles. This is especially true if salt is combined with the cracked ice to make a very cold refrigerating mixture,

I have shown and described herein an ice chest constructed to accommodate two containers. The invention is equally applicable, however, to a chest adapted to contain one container, or more than two containers.

I claim:

1. A cooling device for vending beverages, comprising an ice chest, an open-mouthed container therein, a lid for said chest having an opening of greater diameter than the mouth of the container affording access to the mouth of said container, a removable closure for said. opening, and a ladle having the end of its handle secured to the under- 7 side of said closure and its bowl submerged in the contents of said'container.

2. A cooling device for displaying and vending beverages, comprising an ice chest having an opening closed by a glass panel in its front side, a pair of glass containers mounted, respectively, in opposite ends of said chest to provide a central space for the reception of ice, said containers and their contents and the ice in contact with the containers being visible through said glass panel, a lid covering said chest and having openings through which the mouths of said containers are accessible, closures for said openings, and means comprising ladies secured to said. closures for ladling out the contents of the respective containers, said my hand.

l/VILLIAM F. COX. 

